t all started out of nowhere! one day I was just watching YouTube before going to bed when I saw a video clip for a Victory Judge!! and that’s it; the rest was history.

started researching to see what will it take to ride a beast like that. Being in New Zealand, it turns out there is quite a process to go through that was meant for your safety on the road and the safety of others from you :D. During this time, I’ll be sharing my experience on this blog.

PS: I’ve also had a blog on google blog but the app sucks. so moving here now so you might notice the dates to be a bit off.

So guess it’s goodbye for the Learner’s plate and a new chapter starts with new adventure to come. I do have some clips but no time to edit them. Plus the weather here in New Zealand changes dramatically we should be in Autumn but it had been raining continuously for 4 days with floods up in the North Island making some headlines. Yes I’m in the South Island where it’s colder and dryer. Specifically in Christchurch where we had a major earthquake back in 2010 destroying some parts of the city but since then lots of natural disaster events happened. The latest was the Port Hills fire that spread out for couple of days. That place was nice to cruise with twisty roads and the recently new adventure Park that got burned​. It will take some time to fix everything but we will manage to get things back if not better than before.

I’ll see if I can manage to upload some videos once I get the chance.

During the bad weather, I’m back driving my car and believe me nothing beats a warm car seat, windshield wipers going back and forth, warm Cappa drink and a radio. No need to worry about gearing up, slippery roads and wiping the visor. The convenience of relaxing in a wet day is amazing when driving a car not that I’ve tried riding in the rain on a motorcycle but I can imagine how uncomfortable and such a hassle it will be.

This made me install some heat grips on my bike just incase I do need them as the weather gets colder. It was a DIY which I enjoyed while listening to the Klein wireless speakers attached to my bike with it’s strong magnet.

Tip: slice the old grip along it’s length and keep it. This will be handy to use as a cable cover under your bike tank if you need to.

It is an issue once you started to get used to riding and you start noticing things on the road, things around you and you start noticing how commuting in a car can be dull, how you prefer the sight from your visor than behind the windshield, and how the road feels so small in a car than the lines you switch in that road!

You start noticing people in vehicles and what they’re were doing are they spacing out or just looking at their phones.

The problem is, as you ride more, the more you want to keep riding. Sure!! last time I’ve taken a long ride my left wrist struggled with the pain due to the handlebar being smaller than my shoulders width. I can also hear the front brake screech from time to time. Still, you try to adjust and keep going even experimenting some settings and see how the bike feels. One thing I did was stiffen the back suspension to handle my heavy weight. for some reason after a couple of twists here and there, it bounced back to its factory settings! You can tell if the chain was loose by setting on the bike and move it up and down with your finger. if it moves more than 25mm then you might need to consider tightening it up a bit. All these perks and test makes you want more from your bike. Don’t get me wrong the little Suzuki is a fine machine learner but the only problem is, it’s small for my size especially if I’m riding further and longer trips.

Another thing is, you can tell if the chain was loose by sitting on the bike and move the chain up and down with your finger. if it moves more than 25mm then you might need to consider tightening it up a bit. All these perks and test makes you want more from your bike. Don’t get me wrong the little Suzuki is a fine learner machine but the only problem is, it’s small for my size especially if I’m riding further and longer trips.

So what should I do? Well, I’ll keep riding the hell out of it and push my skills to the limits. It is harder to make a slow bike go fast than a fast bike to go slow while on the other hand it’s lots of fun going fast on a slow bike than going slow on a fast bike ;). so until next year who knows what can happen? but in the meantime, I’m having lots of fun and that’s what’s important to me.

So with no further delays here is my latest trip where I’ve beeing riding around Christchurch bays and enjoying the good weather. (if the video is too fast you can slow it down using the speed control from youtube). Enjoy 😉

I know it’s been awhile since my last blog, but believe me, I have spent my time riding last week close to the coast with astonishing views that demanded some nice pictures.

NEW BRIGHTON BEACH

I’ve also started my week with a motorcycle training (bronze course). this course aims to improve your skills and road awareness and increase your confidence on the bike. as I never rode a motorcycle before I was lucky to start my training with Dan Ornsby when I was a novice. I had never owned a motorcycle and never even rode one, not even a dirt bike, hell if you’ve read my previous blogs I barely knew they exist!! 😨. Dan showed me the basics and taught me the fundamentals which were crucial for not practising some bad habits. I could easily compare it with swimming as I used to compete at university long time ago. (he was the coach who would teach you how to breathe under water and float and if this becomes second nature then you could learn any swimming technique you would like). another thing is; he would focus on safety skills as a number one skill. You could see that from his quote: “My father strongly impressed on me at an early age, the dangers associated with riding a motorcycle on a public road. Never assume you have been seen and never expect that anyone will do anything they should. In his words “Treat everyone as an idiot”.

The Second person I was also privileged to meet was Pete an Ex-officer who really knows some tricks of handling a bike like a pro. you can easily chat with him and learn at the same time.

The Third person was Hank. Hank would let you experiment with your bike and have some fun. At the end of the day, it’s up to you, to make the right call, and ride the right way you feel confident to do so. No one can tell you which way to ride best.

All three instructor’s I’ve met and thought under had a way of teaching. Dan will help you feel and look at your bike in an artistic way he will make a big deal about your head position and where are you looking due to his racing background. While Pete can help you use some techniques that make’s life easier and manoeuvre your bike effortlessly. And old Hank will let you feel young again 🤣.

Going back to my group which is quite special. 4 people including myself from different countries. Two recently came to NZ. We had a Sydney fella on a Ducati-
monster (pipes only soo loud and noisy, which made staying in a neighbourhood out of the question. it was so loud that when passing through Lyttleton under mountain tunnel you needed to stay 500m away from it due to the amplification of the noise). a British Lady on Suzuki GN250 who use to be a pallium for her partner who loves bikes, and a kiwi lady who just got her learners 2 weeks ago and is getting a new bike tomorrow, she enjoys riding horses and bikes. finally myself with Hank as the instructor.

A British Lady on Suzuki GN250 who use to be a pillion for her partner and loves bikes. A Kiwi lady who just got her learners 2 weeks ago and is getting a new bike the second day. She enjoys riding horses and bikes. finally myself with Hank as the instructor.

I led the group three times during my group ride, my confidence was high which was great when attacking corners in the mountains. I had a lot of fun (a blast) and managed to actually get some lead and pull away from the group, I’m sure it wasn’t the power of my bike, as I had the smallest bike of the bunch. but the little Suzuki sure can turn tight. As instructed by Hank to enter wide and finish tight on a corner. the only thing I regret was not catching it on camera :S/. especially when half the group got lost but we managed to re-group and I’m confident enough to do my restricted license if I wanted to. First I’ll take the silver course as I’m near the end of my 3 months registration! Can’t believe it’s only been 3 months since I’ve started!! amazing how much fun and places you can go on a bike..

Take away nice houses and having a car. New-Zealanders are lucky enough to have a wonderful backyard of breathtaking scenery. beach bays and mountains with fresh water lakes and rivers pouring into the ocean. during the holidays, I was giving a book about kiwis bikers and their story with their bikes. from old to young; male to female, you name it, this book has different people all over the place. From famous and not so famous, from rising stars to just your normal Bob.

You Even get a policeman and believe me they go thru high intense training before hitting the road.

If you’re in Newzealand you will already know about the Bomb-low weather (Weather Bomb) that we had last week. This weather hit the far north of the south island with floods and winds up to 140 km/hr. Speaking of Winds my last ride did put some toll on my bottom back. which made me do some research on how to ride in the wind. most tricks were to lean the bike to the direction of the wind and to keep the elbow loss with loosening grip on the handlebar. as long you maintain a constant throttle you should be ok. if you are getting hit hard from one side, it might help opening your knee to the outside in the direction of the wind. this helps in destroying the wind pressure off the bike. positioning yourself a bit forward to the tank helps distribute your weight to both of your wheels. of course the lower you are on the road the better grip you will have like most cruiser bikes.

I’ve never been this far and it will be my first attempt to ride a long distance, with speed of 100km/hr. keep in mind my bike is only 125cc and the Rpm will be Rev around 9000. I delayed my trip till afternoon in hope the wind will slow down. during this time I can see lots of motorcycle cruising around the city and the itch to get on my bike was killing me.

I’ve delayed my trip till the afternoon in hope the wind will slow down. during this time I can see lots of motorcycle cruising around the city and the itch to get on my bike was killing me.

So with no further delays, I’ve jumped on my bike and went off with no backpack nothing except my action camera. at first, the ride was nice until leaving the city as the wind was giving me a run for my money. This was the longest time being on my bike I wasn’t sure if my tank will hold up so mid-way I’ve filled it up and continued, by this time I was happy… it was Saturday afternoon and the traffic seems to be on one side as people were more likely coming back to the city. I’ve managed to get to 100Km/hr but could not stay there ! that was the maximum speed I can reach with the headwind. believe me, there were times it scared me I could also feel the pain in my back after awhile as the wind continues to push against me. with 20Km left for a second I was having thoughts to return back!! hell No! the scenery just started to get interesting. So I(me) and my bike continued to push forward.

At the little river cafe (at the back of the parking lot), I’ve parked my bike and took my helmet off and stretched my back. I’ve also noticed 4 couples mid-elderly age on some nice muscle bikes relaxing on the picknick table. called my wife to tell her I’m ok and in one piece :).

on my way back I can feel the Bee’s hitting me on the helmet and shoulder hard then halfway through I felt a crawl up my NECK!! and can see the little Bumble inside my Visor.

Slowing down and keeping calm while opening the visor in hope it will fly away.

Guess you might by now heard the news; Victory motorcycles are stopping manufacturing and will continue to support what’s left of the inventory for the next 10 years!

Not a good morning news to wake up on!! knowing the bike that started this all is now out of production :(.

I did manage to see one on display but never sat or ridden one yet. who knows what the future hold… but it seems Honda is on the right track showing a self-balance bike at the CES Las Vegas 2017 exhibition this year. with self-hight adjustment and fork angle twist not to mention it can follow you around if you want to. it seems hard for anyone to keep up.

Anyway enough of that… and check out my latest video:

Car View Mode:

Expanding territory and going farther! and further! with my bike. See below.